Chapter 7 – Mana Comes Aboard

"So anyways, the Doc faked my death so that Gendo couldn't track me down and demand my return."

The three stooges, as Asuka often referred to them, were now sitting in the lounge area of the Yggdrasil's gunroom, talking around one of the tables. Shinji once more tried to offer his apologies. "Toji… look…"

Toji sighed. "Shinji, get this through your head, okay? It was not your fault. It was your damn father's fault. Now lighten up."

He sighed. "I still feel bad about it"

"ShinjiKim!"

Shinji's eyes widened at the voice, and he started to stand, but was tackled from behind by the green haired girl, sending him sprawling across the table, which was crushed under their combined weight. Toji's eyes widened as Emeralda appeared to be snuggling into his back.

"Damn."

Kensuke looked confused. "She's not usually like this?"

Toji kept staring, but answered. "Well, she's friendly and all, and can't come up with the right words sometimes, but she's not usually this… um…"

"Affectionate?"

"Yeah, that's the word. How the hell does he get them to do it?"

"I was just thinking that earlier…"

Emeralda straightened a little, coming up so that she was sitting on Shinji and the remains of the table. She looked at Toji.

"TojiBart, can I have… have… drink?"

He nodded slowly, and went over to the bar area, Kensuke following as he got a little wierded out by Emeralda nuzzling the now unconscious Shinji. "So, um, why's she call you that?"

Toji shrugged, then knelt to get water out of the mini-fridge. "I'm not too clear on that really. Citan says it's one of those things I'll figure out eventually."

A groaning Shinji took a seat at the bar then, followed by a still brightly smiling Emeralda, who sat right next to him. She smiled at Kensuke. "Ken… Kens… Kensu… KenBilly, Dr. Citan wants to talk to you!"

Kensuke found Citan still in the hanger, this time supervising the tune up of a much smaller white gear. He turned from the small packet of paper he held and smiled at the boy's approach. "Ah, Kensuke, glad to see you answered the summons."

Kensuke glanced back in the direction of the gunroom. "Well, Emeralda's kinda hard to ignore…"

Citan gave a tight grin. "That she is. Did your reunion with Toji go well?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you sir."

Citan chuckled. "I may actually hold rank over you, but you don't need to call me 'sir'. I know my own name well enough."

"If I may ask, just what is your rank?"

Citan smiled. "Ah. I'm Brigadier General Citan Uzuki, Second Lieutenant Kensuke Aida."

Kensuke blinked. "Um, do I really rate that highly?"

Citan glanced down at his paperwork. "Yes. Second Lieutenant is the minimum rank to be a pilot on the Yggdrasil. Minimum piloting rank at any of our other facilities is Sergeant."

"Wow…"

Citan handed the papers to one of the mechanics servicing the forty-foot gear. "But, as interesting as this is, it's not what I called you down here for."

Kensuke blushed. "Right. Sorry."

Citan started moving back towards the door. "Not a problem. I was a little busy when you caught me anyways. Come along."

Kensuke nodded and hurried after. Citan turned and entered a small storage room. Picking up a manual, he handed it to Kensuke, whose eyes widened with glee.

"Come on, we're not done yet, bring it with you."

Kensuke nodded and hurried after, but needn't have bothered as they were only going across the hall. Citan knocked. "Rico, open up."

Rico, the green skinned giant from before, opened the door. "Yeah? What?"

Citan smiled, a failing attempt to calm Rico down. "I need you to go through the armament book with Kensuke here. Remember what we discussed earlier."

Rico nodded reluctantly, turned to Kensuke, still moderately pissed off from what the otaku could see. "Get in."

Kensuke looked at Citan for reassurance, who just grinned at him. Kensuke shuffled his feet a little, and then walked inside. Rico's room was moderately neat, and Rico motioned for Kensuke to sit on the chair. The not so jolly green giant lay back on his bed. "Okay. That's a gun catalogue. Pick a main gun an a couple of back ups. Read off the ones you think you might want to me, so I can say yes or no to them."

Kensuke nodded, and began eagerly flipping through. He stopped after a moment, and looked over at Rico, who glared back. "Um… can I ask why we're doing this? Not that I don't like it, but…"

Rico nodded. "The gears are thought controlled. Because the gears are mechanical though, there's no need for that LCL crap. But because the gears are still thought operated, you need to get training in your gear's main weaponry so that you won't stand there like an idiot when the time comes to use it."

Kensuke nodded. "It makes sense, but I wonder why Gendo didn't put Shinji through any of this stuff…?"

Rico snorted. "That assumes that the bastard wanted F… Shinji to win."

Kensuke blinked. "What do you mean?"

Rico hesitated, and Kensuke was pretty sure that this was a rare sight. "I… I think I'll let the Doc fill you in on that one. Back to the weapons, boy."

Kensuke nodded, then stopped. Rico groaned. "What now?"

Kensuke blushed. "Um, I was just wondering, if you know that is, which one's my gear?"

Rico sat up slightly and looked over at him. "You mean they didn't tell you? You're in the Renmazou. Its main weapons are its guns. Now choose already."

Kensuke grinned and nodded. In the end, the selection process didn't take that long. It was just that Rico had to firmly remind Kensuke several times to drool over the pictures on his own time. In the end, Kensuke selected a pair of Berretta-92Fs, with an 'Equilibrium' modification. Semi-automatic, three round burst. Of course this also meant that he'd go through clips fairly fast.

For a larger (main) weapon, Kensuke, after much begging and pleading, was permitted to select the M-29 OICW. The OICW (Objective Individual Combat Weapon) was an interesting device. It was an assault rifle with two barrels, one on top of the other, each with individual purposes. Its standard shot was from the bottom barrel, where a 5.56 MM kinetic round shot, not unlike that of an M-16, fired. It could be set for single or two shot bursts, with a thirty round clip. The top barrel was a 20 MM 'cannon'. It had a six-shot clip, but these shots could range from standard armor piercing ammunition, to high explosives and gas shots (with explosion timers no less). Built onto the top was a range finder scope with optional laser sighting. On the side of the scope was the panel for controlling the detonation of the 20 MM ammo.

Kensuke had always liked military hardware, and now he was surrounded by it. Rico got a sinking feeling, and reminded himself to never allow Kensuke any form of caffeine, shuddering at the mere thought of a hyped up otaku gun maniac.

---

He stumbled.

He stumbled, not because he tripped, but because he was exhausted. He was exhausted not because he had been running, in fact he had been plodding for some time now, but because the heat was baking the moisture right out of his body.

He was in a desert, he could tell that much. And he had to get out in order to survive. He knew that much as well. He was a young boy, but physically fit. He simply could not understand why he kept getting so tired under the sun of the desert.

But he did, and because he did, he stumbled, and because he stumbled, he fell, coming to rest in a vaguely sitting position. He began to cry, sniffling as he sat. Then, off to his right, a line of figures began to pass.

"Wait! Don't leave me here…!"

He was up in an instant, chasing them, shouting to them, and begging them not to leave him. But no matter how fast he ran, the figures eluded him, and either did not hear, or did not care about his cries for help. He fell back again, and began crying in earnest.

It was then that he heard it. The voice was smooth, calm and comforting. He turned to see a woman, face shrouded in shadow reaching out to him.

"You must be lonely here all by yourself…"

As he reached for her hand, the cross hanging from her neck glittered…

---

And Shinji Ikari woke then, woke like he woke every morning, and put the strange dream behind him, going through his morning ritual quickly and rushed through the halls to his lesson with Dr. Uzuki.

This was his fifth month on board the Kislev. The Kislev itself was a massive battle cruiser that currently sat on the ocean floor. It, like the Yggdrasil, Shinji had learned, was flight capable, but this section of Jet Alone was above top secret (at least at present, with time, who knew?), and so they preferred that she remain mostly stationary under a sea shelf near the bottom of an underwater cavern.

Shinji and the others, Rico and Emeralda included, since the Doctor firmly believed that everyone deserved an education, took classes approximating to those of high school. Of course, the subject matter was more focused on things that could help them in missions, but the result was the same. School.

Not that Shinji had ever believed he would escape it entirely. Dr. Uzuki, with some assistance from a few others on board, taught most of the classes. This was private work on board the Kislev, meant not only to educate them, but to tighten their trust and teamwork with each other as well.

Shinji also had private lessons with Dr. Uzuki, who was teaching him martial arts. When asked why the Weltall couldn't be armed, Doc, as he was now calling him, simply smiled, shrugged, and said that when Shinji was properly trained, a weapon would only slow him down. Somehow, Shinji couldn't bring himself to doubt this, as he felt the power growing inside him, and now he was beginning to pull off things that Citan hadn't shown him, merely on instinct. Doc only gave one of his mysterious smiles whenever this happened.

Suddenly shaken from his thoughts, Shinji looked around cautiously. Something had happened. Shinji didn't know what it was, but something happened.

At first the only thing he could hear was his heartbeat. It grew in intensity, throbbing in his ears.

Thump-Thump

"Get out!"

He couldn't quite place the voice. It was far too soft.

Thump-Thump

"Get out of my head!"

The voice was louder now, and it was tickling on the edge of his mind.

Thump-Thump

"Ahhh! It's… IT'S RAPING MY MIND!

This time, the shout echoed through his mind with surprising force. And the name attached to the voice finally hit him.

Thump-Thump

"Shinji… please… help…"

It was Asuka.

Thump-Thump

Asukaaaa! With that final thought, that last desperate, primal urge to defend her, Shinji lost all consciousness.

---

Even two months later, Kensuke still found himself dwelling on Shinji's collapse. The first clue that something had gone wrong was the aide that had come in hurriedly and held a whispered conversation with Dr. Uzuki for a short period. The Doctor gave her some whispered instructions back, and she nodded and left.

Which was followed immediately by Dr. Uzuki calmly informing us that Shinji would most likely not show up for lessons that day. And perhaps for a few days afterwards.

And that had been all that was said. By the time we got out of class, Shinji was laying in an infirmary bed, saying he'd been on his way to class, when something happened. Then he blanked out and the next thing he knew, he was in the hospital ward.

"Kensuke!"

Kensuke looked up, and promptly started blushing and stammering. He'd just zoned out when Rico was giving him his marching orders. He looked up hopefully. Rico, knowing full well that Kensuke had been zoning, just motioned to the VR Simulator.

Kensuke grimaced. By zoning right then, he had missed out on possibly critical information, like troop formation, distances, and the like. This was something of an exam for him. Kensuke had only one thought about this.

This will not go well.

---

Mana Kirishima was absolutely certain she would never live this down. She glanced down at the letter she still carried around in disbelief for confirmation.

Second Lieutenant Mana Kirishima

With your recent promotion, and outstanding track record, baring a few slight incidents, coupled with the personal recommendation of General Uzuki and your present commanding officer, you are hereby assigned to the Jet Alone Special Forces cruiser Yggdrasil, under the direct command of Captain Ricardo Banderas.

Congratulations,

Jet Alone High Command
And now, not ten minutes onto the Kislev, the Yggdrasil's main underwater port, she was hopelessly lost. The pilot of the Haishao, which had brought her here, had given her directions to where her commanding officer could be found, but somewhere along the way she'd made a wrong turn, and now she couldn't find her way back, as if the way she'd come in had simply vanished.

She got about three more steps before something was thrown to the ground in front of her. She recognized it, and tried to shield her eyes, but it was too late. The flash-bang went off in front of her, temporarily blinding her. She blinked rapidly to restore her sight, only to find that she was surrounded by people with uniforms she didn't recognize. Are the Yggdrasil's uniforms that different? And what are they planning to do with me?

Suddenly, a young man with dirty blonde hair in a black leather duster whipped around the corner and opened fire with two handguns, neatly slicing through the guards and narrowly missing her in the process. Mana squealed, dropped her duffel, and crouched instinctively, letting the bullets pass overhead. Still, some of the blood splattered on her face. The bodies dropped all around her, and she backed away, crab walking backwards.

Mana relaxed slightly, when, after a moment's hesitation scrutinizing her, the young man put his guns back in their holsters hidden behind his waist under the duster. She tried to wipe the blood off her face, but only succeeded in smearing it. He held out his hand, and smiled. "Come on, I need to get you out of here."

Mana nodded and accepted the hand gratefully (grabbing her bag as she rose), not fully understanding, but deciding to go along with it for now. She wasn't sure what was going on here, but since the man with the guns had decided not to kill her like the others, she didn't want to give him a reason to. She opened her mouth to say something, but the young man, he seemed to be around her age, held a finger to his lips, indicating a need for silence. She nodded.

Kensuke, not wearing his glasses for the contacts that worked better in VR as well as true tactical situations, failed to recognize Mana with the blood smeared on her face. Before this, he had assumed this was pretty much 'kill everything without getting yourself killed in the process'. Pretty straight forward, and he'd found nothing before now to dispute that. He now could only assume Rico had for some reason made this one a rescue op. He figured that he should probably get her to the exit, the 'safe zone'. Surely that's what's expected of me here…

Kensuke got back to the 'start' with minimal difficulty. There had been the problem with the enemy tank, but it was relatively small and probably remote controlled, so he hadn't had a problem with launching a high explosive round off of his OICW into it, reducing it to cinders from it's own ammo blowing. He led his charge out, failing to notice several key factors as he did so.

"You failed." Kensuke stared blankly as Rico, not understanding.

Where there more people I had to get out? Perhaps one of them was killed before I got there? There, those were acceptable reasons for failure in his mind. Unfortunately, he'd missed a small tidbit called the 'Mission Objective' when he'd zoned during the briefing.

"What part of 'eliminate all enemy units' did you not understand Kensuke?"

Mana was now looking at the brown haired young man next to her in something close to astonishment.

"Kensuke?"

Kensuke now realized what he'd missed upon exiting the chamber. His 'hostage' had not disappeared with the rest of the VR stuff. His response was eloquent.

"Uhhh…"

Rico stormed into the room from the control booth, fully intent on berating Kensuke, and stopped, dumbfounded, at the sight of the now clean of virtual blood young lady. Kensuke finally recognizing her, had yet another eloquent thing to say.

"Baaaa…"

Rico shot him a glare. They hadn't noticed another living person in the room. It was a mistake really. They monitored the virtual life forms through their entries in the data banks, and Kensuke through his transmitter. Rico smacked his forehead as he realized they hadn't picked up on the girl simply because she wasn't wired. They'd have to work on that. But then, most people don't go wandering into the VR chamber when it's active. They know better.

Rico turned his attention fully to the girl in the standard Jet Alone pilot uniform, ignoring the astonished and stunned Kensuke. "Who are you!"

The girl straightened. "Second Lieutenant Mana Kirismia, sir."

Rico nodded, recognizing the name of the newest person he'd have to train. She'd have been brought in earlier, but Citan had wanted things to settle down before adding her. Especially after he appeared. He pieced together the most likely happening almost immediately. She'd gotten lost and almost gotten herself killed. He nodded. "I'm Captain Ricardo Banderas, Lieutenant. Call me Rico. Get this blabbering fool to show you to your quarters, and change into something else. We're fairly informal here. After you're done, have him show you to the gear dock. The Doc and I will be waiting."

Then Rico stalked out the door, determined to find out who had let her wander around on her own on her first trip here, and proceed to explain to them, with his fists, just why that sort of thing shouldn't be done.

---

Neverwhere Chaos Mode: I finally got a new monitor, only to have my operating system crap out on me. My life sucks. Still, these chapters are stored in my jump drive, so regular updates as always. Go me.

And someone tell ClassicCowboy to get off his lazy butt and write another chapter of this so I don't have to keep remembering which fridays to post on. Lazy ass.